August io, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



375 



In Lynn, Melrose and elsewhere tliis process of deterioration 

 is well under way. In the former municipality, tluuilcs to the 

 tliounhtful initiative of Mr. Chase, the (irst steps toward a 

 better condition of tilings have been taken in the pin-chase of 

 a narrow strip between the street and Flax Pond, near the 

 entrance to Lynn Woods, covered with a fine grove of White 

 Pines. 



How much more vrduable to the town of Arlington would 

 ' be Spy Pond were its shores skirted by pleasant paths and 

 drive-ways, with the intervening huul reserved to the ptd^lic 

 and tastefully planted! What an exquisite effect would masses 

 of Rhododendrons, A/.aleas and otlier blossoming shrubs 

 make upon the borders of these ponds, clustered among the 

 trees and other natural growth of the localities. 



The pro|3er treatment of all these suburban sheets of water 

 should form an essential feature in the work of the Metro- 

 politan Park Commission. The Boston Park Commission has 

 recently taken the shores of Jamaica Pond, in West Roxbury, 

 and that fine sheet of water will soon form a prominent fea- 

 ture of the Boston park system. The town of Wakefield has 

 had the forethought to convert a large portion of the shores 

 of Lake (Tuann;ipowitt into an attractive pleasure-ground ; 

 Cambridge has built a drive-way around Fresh Pond, hardly 

 developing its landscape possibilities to the best advantage, 

 however ; euid the several communities that derive their water- 

 sujiply from Spot Pond, in the Middlesex Fells, have recently 

 taken the entire shores of that exceptionally charming lake. 

 This is about all that has been done in that direction in the 

 Boston suburbs, as yet. 



At the Belmont town-hall, a beautiful brick structure de- 

 signed by Hartwell & Richardson, Pleasant Street turns to the 

 right and runs along the slope of a narrow pass between the 

 hills, in the depth of which there is just room enough for the 

 Fitchburg and the Central Massachusetts Railroad tracks. 

 Shortly beyond are the Waverley stations of the two lines, tlie 

 most convenient point of approach for those visiting the 

 Waverley Oaks. A few rods beyond the street leading from 

 the railway stations our way dips into a sylvan glen where a 

 large, clear and rapid brook crosses beneath a low rustic stone 

 bridge, and a road to Lexington and Concord, called Mill 

 Street, forks off to the right and passes up the hill. Near the 

 1>ridge a guide-board bears the picturesque name of Partelo 



Buston. Sylvester Baxter. 



The Sugar Maple. 



MAPLE-TREES are characteristic of northern Ohio, and add 

 a distinctive and special beauty to the landscape. They 

 are more abundant than other trees, and help to give that air of 

 prosperity and luxuriance to the country that is missed as one 

 journeys up the chain of the Great Lakes. To those who have 

 lived among Sugar Maples and enjoyed their sweets in the 

 early spring, and later the light of their willowy colored blos- 

 soms mingled with the tender red foliage of their kin, they 

 become an essential feature in the spring opening. We love 

 these annual displays as others love their native hills and 

 mountains. 



The blossom of the Red Maple is the true harbinger of 

 spring. It is all fiction about the bluebird. He comes along 

 in the late winter, and we find him half-frozen in the sleet, 

 fluttering against our windows for light and warmth. But 

 when these red tints begin to show themselves in the borders 

 of the woods then we know that other trees are in a fair way 

 to bloom, and that spring is surely coming. The Maple is not, 

 as regards size, of exceptional growth. The dense foliage and 

 cleanliness recommend it to the lover of shade, and its symniet- 

 rical shape renders it especially adapted to the road-side. One 

 farmer in this locality, with an eye for artistic effect, years ago 

 planted a row of Pines on one side of the road which passed 

 through his farm, and on the other side a row of Maples ; they 

 were, doubtless, wisely cared for, for they stand now, in un- 

 broken lines, vieing with each other in wondrous contrast, and 

 make an avenue of an otherwise commonplace country road. 

 The two varieties, commonly known as hard and soft Maple, 

 make up the greater part of the trees which adorn our " For- 

 est City." The fruit of both the Sugar and Red Maple is winged 

 and similar in shape, but that of the Sugar Maple does not ripen 

 until fall, sprouting the following spring, while that of the Red 

 Maple ripens in early summer and germinates at once, mak- 

 ing sturdy plants by fall. In this way the Red Maple obtains a 

 year's start of the other species. 



The Hard Maple is the most commonly tapped for sugar-mak- 

 ing. Other species yield sweet sap, but their buds start earlier, 

 and the finished product is thus rendered dark-colored and of 



poor quality. Those who have made the industry of the man- 

 ufacture of maple-sugar a study, estimate a net profit of ten 

 per cent, on the capital invested. If this is the case there is 

 no good reason why it should not be profitable, for, unless it 

 be the Walnut, or possibly the Chestnut, there is no tree worth 

 growing for its timber that will yield yearlysolargean income. 

 No great attention has been given to the making of maple- 

 sugar as an industry, and until within a few years Ihc melliods 

 of evaporation have been primitive and much of the product 

 comparatively poor in ijuality, besides the waste from want of 

 convenient receptacles for storing sap. Now, that it is so diffi- 

 cult to obtain unadulterated sweets and confectionery is such 

 a doubtfid compound, maple-sugar should be more highly 

 prized, and more widely distributed instates where the Maple is 

 not native. From the natural condition of things such a busi- 

 ness will never become a monopoly, and there will always be 

 a demand for the pure article. 



The illustration of the Sugar Maple on page 3S0 is not that 

 of a typical tree. It is of unusual size. The trunk, two feet 

 from tlie ground, measures thirteen and a half feet in circum- 

 ference, and the largest limb, at a convenient distance from 

 the body, eight feet. The branches spread either way a dis- 

 tance of fifty feet, shading the ground a space of one hundred 

 feet in diameter. The tree is tapped annually, apparently 

 without impeding its growth or injuring it in any way, and it 

 yields each year sufficient sap to make three gallons of syrup. 

 It is a forest-seedling, and no one knows its age. 



This magnificent Maple stands in the front dooryard of Mr. 

 Luther Parker, a venerable gentleman eighty-three years of 

 age, who values it above anything else upon his farm. It is on 

 the well-known North Ridge Road, forty-five miles east of 

 Cleveland. _, , -,,,., 



Geneva, Ohio. Floy L. Wright. 



Notes on the Flora of Smythe County, Virginia. — II. 



MANY of the tributaries of the Middle Fork of the Holston 

 River, all noisy little brooks, rise on the Iron Mountain or 

 on one of its spurs, Brushy Mountain. One of these streams, 

 Staley's Creek, winds in and out among the little hills to the 

 south-east of Marion, and it was along its swampy borders that 

 we first saw specimens of Magnolia Fraseri. They were only 

 slender little trees at that altitude, but were in full bloom. 

 Some of the flowers were over five inches long, and each was 

 surrounded with a rosette of the large, bright green, auricled 

 leaves. It was interesting to note how the flowers faded to a 

 dull leathery brown, and were reflexed back against the stem, 

 where they remained some time before finally falling off. The 

 Cucumber-tree (M. acuminata) was there also, with its much 

 less showy, as well as smaller, flowers. It is a particularly 

 handsome, stately tree, often seen growing to a great size along 

 the high-roads. Staley's Creek was disfigured with a small 

 saw-mill that has evidently perpetrated damage out of all pro- 

 portion to its size. It has very successfully done away with all 

 the larger Walnuts, Hickories and Ashes, andnow White Oaks 

 are being turned into hubs and spokes for wagon-wheels, han- 

 dles for axes and hoes. Many a superb Chestnut Oak lies 

 prostrate, bereft of its bark, great car-loads of which at Marion 

 Station told only too plainly of the devastation in progress in 

 the higher recesses of the mountains. On some of the hill- 

 sides a few antiquated Chestnuts, and the tall straight trunks of 

 the Sour Gum-tree (Nyssa sylvatica) are the only remnants of 

 the older forests. The larger Nyssas were especially noticea- 

 ble on account of the curious way their bark had of splitting 

 into hexagonal sections. 



The Sweet Buckeyes (^sculusflava) grew along the streams, 

 and were a fine sight, the dark bluish green of the foliag'e 

 making a striking background for the splendid spikes of flow- 

 ers. White-flowered shrubs were, however, at that season the 

 most abundant. The Flowering Dogwood was in its glory, for 

 as far as the eye could reach its snowy masses covered the 

 hills. Some of the trees were remarkable for a very decided 

 pink tinge to the flowers. It was more noticeable at a distance 

 than close by, though in drying the flowers preserved the pink- 

 streaked look of the bracts. Two White Thorns, Cratajgus 

 coccinea and C. Crus-galli, were abundant everywhere in the 

 valley, and on the hills and along the road a few late-blooming 

 Black Haws (Viburnum prunifolium) added their mite to the 

 while festival. 



The woods and swamps were filled with Violets, yellow, 

 blue and white, too many to note separately. Among them 

 all a pure v^diite form of Viola cucuUata was remarkable for its 

 size and beauty. Houstonia serpyllifolia, the daintiest of tiny 

 blue flowers, lined the borders of the little brooks with a starry 

 growth. It was astonishing to see the size and beauty the little 



